A Grilling... Again...

Afternoon everyone!
Recently taken delivery of my ex demo C220 estate. It's the AMG Sport Plus, 2013.
Now it's got the silver/chrome grill. My dealer tells me there is a US market black/chrome replacement in the parts catalogue. Available to order from Germany and "only" around £200! Problem is, they don't have a picture...

Thanks for the link buddy. I've been through the whole aftermarket catalogue. I even ordered one and sent it back as it was nowhere near the quality of the oem grill. As for painting... Nah, I'm no expert but to get a finish worthy of the Merc surely you need the experience and the correct environment to get the finish you need. Plus there's no going back!
I'll have a think....

easy way forward is not to paint the grill but to wrap it in gloss black, you can then return it to the original silver if you want. Also the wrap will not chip like the paint will.
The chrome strips come off the grill and go back on after wrapping. that's how i did mine.

easy way forward is not to paint the grill but to wrap it in gloss black, you can then return it to the original silver if you want. Also the wrap will not chip like the paint will.
The chrome strips come off the grill and go back on after wrapping. that's how i did mine.

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Great idea - I love it. So please tell me: did you take the grill off completely to do it, and was it easy enough to remove the chrome strips? Also I've never done any wrapping (Is it coz I'm old, and I ain't been that bold), so where do you get the stuff and how easy is it to apply?

Great idea - I love it. So please tell me: did you take the grill off completely to do it, and was it easy enough to remove the chrome strips? Also I've never done any wrapping (Is it coz I'm old, and I ain't been that bold), so where do you get the stuff and how easy is it to apply?

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Yes I took the whole grille out, you have to to enable the removal of the 'star' & chrome strips. Easy to remove as you squeeze the pegs together & gently push the trim off the plastic from the back.

The wrap takes a bit of time to do & get perfect, but with a hair drier to help on the curves it works well. I found that I did each element separately including the small vertical sections between the horizontal slats but did the top and centre star area as one.

It's worth having a practice session on an area so you get the feel for how it applies and how much heat you can apply to make it bend on curves.

Yes I took the whole grille out, you have to to enable the removal of the 'star' & chrome strips. Easy to remove as you squeeze the pegs together & gently push the trim off the plastic from the back.

The wrap takes a bit of time to do & get perfect, but with a hair drier to help on the curves it works well. I found that I did each element separately including the small vertical sections between the horizontal slats but did the top and centre star area as one.

It's worth having a practice session on an area so you get the feel for how it applies and how much heat you can apply to make it bend on curves.

Hey Alscoob, thanks for the info. I am going to give this a go, but before I order, would the size of wrap in you link (20cmx152cm) be enough to cover all that slats and center star area? And is there much wrap left over in case i mess the first slat up? Cheers.

Hey Alscoob, thanks for the info. I am going to give this a go, but before I order, would the size of wrap in you link (20cmx152cm) be enough to cover all that slats and center star area? And is there much wrap left over in case i mess the first slat up? Cheers.

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I think from memory I bought 1m x 600mm - just put the link on to show the material. I worked on the length of the grille x the width of the slats, but what I found was you use much wider on the top slat / star as the grille is curved. Also I overlapped from the star sides slightly onto the second row of slats, then did each slat separately and overlapped the previous piece of wrap and then cut with a sharp scalpel through both layers exactly on the point where the star met the slat, then peel back remove the cuts & perfect joint...takes time but worth it. It was easier than trying to take the material on the slat up the side of the star.

Did each lower slat similar but just butted up to the star as not much of a gap there. For the vertical bits between the slats I just cut some strips and wrapped them around, don't have to be too particular as you cant really see them (unless you don't cover them!)

Worth just having a go first to see how the material works. Use a hair drier to warm it so that it goes round curves (interesting that bit) - I also had a small flexible but not floppy, squeegee for want of a better word to help apply it.

If you struggle with the straights and curves in one piece I guess you could do it in sections, as long as the joints are good you'll be ok. Take your time & it'll be fine.